Morrisons joins Sainsbury’s and Asda in major job cuts after Budget
Morrisons has become the latest UK supermarket giant to announce a major round of job cuts in the wake of the government’s Budget in October.
The Bradford-headquartered chain has confirmed plans to axe more than 200 roles from its retail people team.
The move forms part of a wider drive to significantly cut costs and comes after chief executive Rami Baitiéh described the “avalanche of costs” businesses will face after the government’s Budget in October.
The roles set to be cut my Morrisons include positions in customer experience, employee engagement, recruitment, and payroll.
A Morrisons spokesperson said: “We have recently carried out a review of our people structure to ensure we are offering our stores and sites a timely and consistent service.
“We are therefore proposing to remove the roles of regional people manager, store people manager and case specialist from our structure, meaning colleagues in these roles are being placed at risk of redundancy.
“The new structure will consist of a number of new central roles to support our supermarkets directly along with central HR support and additional employee relations roles.
“Before any final decisions are taken, we will undertake a minimum 45 day consultation process.”
The news comes after Sainsbury’s has confirmed plans to axe more than 3,000 roles as it prepares to close all its remaining in-store cafes.
The major overhaul will cut two per cent of its current workforce, which stands at 148,000.
The move will also make around 20 per cent of senior management roles at Sainsbury’s redundant.
The drive is part of the supermarket giant’s plans to focus on fewer, bigger roles and to simplify its head office and management teams.
In November 2024, Asda also announced job cuts and asked its staff to return to the office three days a week in the latest move in its turnaround plan.
Earlier this month, Morrisons showed its support towards the farming community by backing its call for urgent reforms to inheritance tax policies on farms following Rachel Reeves’ October Budget.
In October, Reeves cancelled the exemption for inheritance tax for farms and other agricultural assets valued over £1m. This means that they will be subject to a 20 per cent levy starting April 2025.
A month later, the CEO of Morrisons called for the business rates system to be radically overhauled so it “genuinely levels the playing field” between high street retailers and online operators.